A charming and spicy Irish romance.
When two exes reunite to attend a weekend-long wedding in Ireland, old feelings resurface.
It’s been a whirlwind two years since Aidan O’Toole scored a record deal and landed a single on the radio. But after nonstop touring and pressure from the label to write a catchier, less “sad bastard” album, Aidan feels little inspiration to write another love song, especially when the muse behind his breakout tune wants nothing to do with him. Aidan and his ex-girlfriend, Cielo “Lo” Valdez, ended on rocky terms when he became famous, but no one can deny that all his lyrics are about her. At the time, Lo had just arrived in Ireland from Texas to attend medical school, and going on a cross-country tour with Aidan would have derailed her degree. After battling cancer as a teen and dealing with an absentee father, Lo had no room in her life for the instability of life with a celebrity. Instead, she’s now content to avoid listening to the radio and leave Aidan in the past—except for the fact that they’re both in the same wedding party. As maid of honor and best man, they’re thrown headfirst into party planning and faking smiles together, albeit unsuccessfully. A hen party results in a puddle of unresolved feelings and a stranded boat, and harmless ribbon cutting leads to unmistakable sexual tension. As Aidan and Lo spend more time together, Aidan realizes that his new album might be just the way to win her back. Can Lo reconcile her fears and let Aidan in, or did their song end forever? In Fairbanks’ second Love in Galway romantic dramedy, her characters experience love and heartache with a beautiful Irish backdrop. Aidan and Lo’s relationship brings the heat, and obligatory wedding hijinks offer breathing room amid more serious subjects like Lo’s health anxiety. Fans of Morbidly Yours (2024) will be happy to see Lark and Callum’s story continue with their wedding, and perhaps sneak a peek into the next Love in Galway chapter with Saoirse and florist Gabe.
A charming and spicy Irish romance.Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2025
ISBN: 9780593851883
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
A deep examination of grief, love, and the power of art.
Former lovers embark on a bucket-list road trip to honor their late mentor’s memory, reigniting their own connection in the process.
Dani Jenkins made a name for herself after pivoting from model to influencer, but creating the videos that made her an online it girl doesn’t hold her interest the way it used to. When Tanya Holden, her longtime mentor, dies, having kept her cancer a secret, it’s a shock for Dani—and it brings her face to face with the man who broke her heart years ago. Micah Wright is a talented artist who credits Tanya with steering him away from a criminal path; he’s nursing his own regrets for how things ended with Dani the first time around. A meeting with Tanya’s attorney reveals her dying wish for Dani and Micah: To complete a scavenger hunt that will take them through her past. Traveling all over the country is the last thing either Dani or Micah wants to be doing, but they’re willing to honor Tanya’s memory through a surprisingly illuminating road trip—and, despite the risk of aggravating old wounds, find themselves warming to the possibility of picking up where they once left off. Bishop’s latest expands on characters previously introduced in supporting roles in Only for the Week (2024); it was clear then that Dani and Micah had a complicated history. Unlike Janelle and Rome’s lust-to-love trajectory in that first installment, Dani and Micah have an undeniable slow burn, with Dani reluctant to lower the walls she’s built around her heart and Micah endearingly cautious in his attempts to win her back. While the lingering angst from their shared past would have been better served through more flashbacks to that period, and the road-trip conceit introduces a revolving door of characters who occasionally distract from the irresistible love story, the book’s most tender moments evince Bishop’s strengths as a writer.
A deep examination of grief, love, and the power of art.Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781638932741
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Zando/Slowburn
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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